Port activities and excursions

[wannagoagain]

Hi, we're looking at Alaska cruises. Generally speaking, what is offered in the ports? We don't want to get off to shop or eat, much more interested in activities and excursions. Do all ports have activities and excursions?

Thanks

[SightCRR]

Yes all ports have excursions. Likely cost more than cruise fare when totaled. Can do cheap or expensive. $50-800 pp. each. Search on youtube for individual reviews (not the ad ones). Likely many are full for 2024. When choosing cruise look for longest port times and I would avoid Ward Cove dock in Ketch because of short times so far out. 

[oaktreerb]

Alaska is all about tourism from May to September.  All cruise lines will sell you excursions or you can plan your own.  Glacier Bay entry is restricted so if you want to see the national park glaciers you would need to choose a cruise line that goes there.  Hubbard Glacier is a huge glacier.  Whale watching is favorable around Juneau/Icy Strait.  Skagway has Gold Rush national park history.  Ketchikan has Creek Street and the Bering Sea fisherman’s tour.  Sitka is amazingly beautiful and has a Russian influence.  There are a couple of books eg. Alaska by Cruise Ship for research.

[wannagoagain]

Perfect thank you!

[Northern Aurora]

Actually, southeast Alaska is "all about tourism from May to September."  Other parts of the state are not.

 

Our OP will have more responses if they specify which ports they will be visiting.

[oaktreerb]

22 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Actually, southeast Alaska is "all about tourism from May to September."  Other parts of the state are not.

 

Our OP will have more responses if they specify which ports they will be visiting.

OP asked about the “ports”.  The ports who welcome the ships will welcome the tourists and have plenty of activities and excursions to keep those tourists busy.   

 

It doesn’t sound like they will be doing a land tour.

[Northern Aurora]

I realize that folks who have limited travel experience in Alaska rank cruise tourism as a more important segment of our economy than folks who either live in the state or actually have extensively traveled throughout the state.  Or, indeed, Alaska residents who live outside of Juneau, Ketchikan or Skagway (actually, very few of folks working in stores in Skagway actually live in Alaska) have a very different perception of our economic drivers.  While every segment of an economy is important folks need to understand that where I live, in the Interior of Alaska, cruise passengers visit but are not the "holy grail" of our economy.  The economic drivers our our local economy are based an on a number of sectors, and cruise ship passengers are a minor segment.  Cruise passengers seem to feel that cruises are the economic driver of the entire state.  That is definitely not true.  Just ask Alaska residents who live in locations such as Bethel, Nome, Kotzebue, Fort Yukon or Utqiagvik.  Or even ask folks who Iive in Cordova, Petersburg, or Valdez how much they value cruise ship business.

 

And southeast Alaska is much more than the standard "ports who welcome the ships.... "  There are a number of SE Alaska communities who do not want to host cruise ships.

 

 I find that the term "ports" seems to mean anywhere a cruise ship passenger may find themselves on a cruise ship sponsored land tour.  Such as Denali.  Certainly there are a number of questions about Denali on this forum which is focused on cruise issues.